


Dark Sanctuary

by esperjester



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: (if a ship for sure appears it will be tagged), Found Family, Gen, Manga & Anime References, The Friendship Cult (AKA: Yugi's Friend Group), Yami Bakura Redemption
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-07-20 19:39:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16144139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esperjester/pseuds/esperjester
Summary: Despite now knowing that the Millennium Ring is incredibly dangerous, Ryou finds himself inexplicably drawn to the Spirit which exists within it. Intrigued, he concocts a plan to properly meet (so to say) and chat with the Spirit properly in the weeks following their showdown in Monster World. What follows is an unlikely partnership that neither of them could have seen coming.(Follows Ryou and Bakura throughout the events of the series with the two in a proper partnership/developing friendship following the end of the Monster World Arc and going into the Duelist Kingdom Arc.  More specific details in the opening notes of Chapter 1.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (IF YOU WANT A SPECIFIC STORY TO BE WRITTEN SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO DO IT YOURSELF HAHAAAA)
> 
> This is likely exactly what it looks like. My plan for this story is to follow the plot of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series (with references to the manga, Season 0, and the Duel Monsters Anime each being considered) and rework it from the point of view of Yami Bakura and Ryou Bakura had they been able to form a partnership more along the lines of Yami Yugi/Atem and Yugi Mutou (albeit the Bakuras are much more dysfunctional at times). 
> 
> I probably won't deal with filler arcs as much, but they might be mentioned or explored a little bit if they seem interesting and the story leading up to it lends itself well to being incorporated when I reach them. (The Noah Arc will likely be skipped though, admittedly.) 
> 
> I feel like Bakura and Ryou could have been a very effective and interesting duo if they had worked a few things out early on in the story and I wanted to explore that here. I look forward to working on this in the future and hope that you'll enjoy it and consider following it!

Despite everything that the Spirit of the Ring had put him and his friends through before, Ryou Bakura couldn’t help but feel intrigued by his existence now that he knew about it. 

Every ounce of sense in his body and all of his natural instincts were screaming at him to let the matter drop, to discard the Ring (or, at the very least, store it somewhere it couldn’t hurt him or anyone else) and never look back.  Despite these feelings, there was an almost unnatural magnetic quality he felt whenever he looked at the Ring, or even so much as thought of it.  It felt as though he was meant to have it. 

So, after doing his best to disregard the strange sensations he felt when he thought about it too much and failing, he settled for carrying it around with him instead.  And that was fine, for the first few days it was enough.  But there was something strange about the silence which occupied the space in his mind that the Spirit had possessed, even if only for the duration of a couple of days.  The lack of noise and the quiet exuding from the Millennium Ring was somehow loud on its own and Ryou found it harder and harder to ignore.  Rather, as time went on, it seemed that the silence was near deafening though he could not for the life of him figure out why.

The Spirit had trapped his friends in Monster World miniatures.  He had, as Ryou now knew, caused Ryou to be isolated and lonely at his previous schools by causing the few friends he had made to become comatose and branded him a freak, someone dangerous to be avoided by those who knew better. 

Ryou had no illusions about the Spirit of the Millennium Ring.  He knew that his actions and decisions had been more harmful and disruptive than anything else.  Even so, despite all the pain and suffering he caused, the Spirit had in a strange and definitely roundabout way been…  Not nice, but quite evil either?  He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the Spirit than trapping people in figurines and toying with them. 

Despite not being entirely coherent during the time he was possessed, Ryou did remember bits and pieces of his time as a passenger in his own body.  He remembered the end of his time as the Spirit’s vessel the best, the moments leading up to Yugi and the others appearing at his door step and the final moments he had as he broke the Mind Dice with what little freewill he could muster, but he remembered bits and pieces of the times before more and more now that he was aware of the Spirit’s existence.  It was as though the Spirit’s own memories in Ryou’s body were finally becoming available now that his influence was gone, though most of it was still incredibly hazy and left Ryou feeling dizzy if he attempted to focus on them for too long. 

He could remember the looks of horror on his friends’ faces as they were condemned to a life in Monster World, bound to the dolls he’d made specifically for them – which made him sick in another kind of way (he’d wanted the figures to be perfect so his friends would be impressed and come over again to play more, he’d never expected his passion and fervor to become so twisted).  But moreover, he could now remember how the Spirit felt when he enacted his “Penalty Game” on Karita-sensei, the teacher who had picked on Ryou for being too effeminate. 

The Spirit had felt…  Vindictive, but also oddly protective in a way that Ryou was having a difficult time coming to terms with and grasping.  He remembered the Spirit almost mockingly stating that he needed to “pay his rent” and confronting Karita as a means of doing so, but he hadn’t really processed or felt the emotions surging through his body properly at the time, too overwhelmed by the sensation of being overtaken by another force beyond his control. Now that he’d had some time to reflect he could remember it clearly and found it odd. 

Why would the Spirit go through all that trouble?  Why go through the trouble of dealing with Karita?  Why allow Ryou to ever come back to surface in his consciousness at all?  While granted, Ryou had fought the Spirit tooth and nail once he realized what had been happening to him each time he’d blacked out in the past, it was in the tiny moments of consciousness allowed by the Spirit that Ryou was able to figure out and plan how to regain even the slightest bit control over his own body.  Had the spirit simply continued to force Ryou into the strange semi-state of sleep he entered while out of control of his body, he could have done whatever he liked for as long as he wanted. 

Even if it had been a matter of it taking too much energy to properly maintain control of his body, there were too many questions unanswered for Ryou to feel satisfied with maybes and “what if”s. 

So, about a week after he presented the diorama of the battle they’d had in Monster World to his newly found friends, Ryou Bakura cut class and walked to the nearest bookstore. 

\--

After carefully reading through his latest purchases and going out to get a few last minute items, Ryou cleared the floor in his living room as best as he could.  For once, he was thankful that his father had forced him to live apart from him, because there was no way that he would be able to explain what he was about to do to him. 

He set his books to the side and set about lining the floor lightly in chalk.  Though his marks would not be identical to those depicted in the books he’d purchased, he found himself thinking that adapting them to suit his own beliefs and needs was likely for the best (or at least he hoped it would be).  He adapted a design from several renditions of the Seals of Solomon depicted in the books, replacing the Hebrew words surrounding the seal with his own written in carefully scripted Japanese (“Protection” “Friendship” “Insight” “Sentience” “Wisdom” “God”).  He then went over his design again with the chalk, darkening and thickening it accordingly. 

Ryou rose, standing to take a step back to examine his work and smiled to himself, pleased. 

He then set about making a thick circle around the seal with salt, leaving a small opening at the top for the time being.  Once he finished, he checked his work for any kind of sloppiness and was pleased to find his markings and salt seemed to be set appropriately and neatly. 

With that, he walked into his room, grabbed his schoolbag and retrieved the ring. 

Ryou entered through the break in the salt and carefully placed the Millennium Ring into the center of the seal, then properly sealed the circle with what remained of his salt.  That done, he stepped back into the circle and picked up the Ring, laughing nervously to himself as he sat down in the center.  He raised the leather thong necklace which was secured to the Ring over his head and took a deep breath. 

“Alright, Spirit of the Millennium Ring… We had a rocky start but… I’d like to talk to you.  If you’re still here and willing, that is.” 

At first, Ryou was met with the same familiar silence which often accompanied the Ring these days, but eventually he heard a dark chuckle in the back of his mind from the same part he’d heard the Spirit’s voice coming from before and let out a sigh of relief. 

_“How interesting.  I thought after all that I put you and your “friends” through that you were done with this thing.  I’m surprised you put it back on.  Ready to relinquish control over to me, Ryou Bakura?”_

“I took precautions this time, Spirit.  You can’t take over me and cross the salt line threshold.  If you want out—"

_“Yes, yes.  I can tell.  You’ve been quite busy since we last chatted, hmm?  Where did you learn to make seals like this?”_

“I read about it.”

_“Ha!”_  

“What’s so funny?”

_“You say that like it means nothing.  Seals like these are half knowledge, half talent.”_

“Is it that impressive?”  Ryou asked, sincerely curious.  The Spirit had sounded impressed, despite himself, Ryou couldn’t help but wonder exactly how strong his homemade seal was. 

_“Why did you summon me here, landlord?”_ The Spirit’s voice demanded, ignoring the question.  In the back of his mind, Ryou could sense irritation that wasn’t his own.  _“There must be some reason.”_

“There is, I already told you.  I want to chat.”  Ryou scowled as a loud guffaw echoed through his head.  “I’m serious!!  I want to talk to you!” 

_“Now, why on earth would you want that?”_

“Well, Yugi and the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle seem to be communicating now and… I don’t know.  I guess I just wanted to.”  Ryou admitted, not really having a particularly good reason for engaging such a dangerous entity now that he really thought about it.  “I guess I just wanted to know more about you.” 

_“Ha!  You’re a strange kid, Ryou Bakura.”_

“Well, are you up to chat?”

_“Isn’t that what we’re doing now?”_ Despite himself, the Spirit sounded a bit amused.  _“I don’t suppose if we do that I could convince you to keep wearing that Ring, could I?”_

“Not if you’re going to hurt my friends.”  Ryou stated seriously, an air of finality in his statement which he could feel the Spirit bristle at.  He tried to relax a bit before continuing.  “We may be able to work something out, but if you hurt my friends again I’m not just going to sit patiently in the backseat while you do as you please.” 

_“Oh?  And how do you intend to stop me?”_

“I stopped you once, I’d stop you again.  But that’s not why we’re talking right now.  I didn’t ask if you wanted to argue; I asked if you wanted to chat.  So, do you?” 

“.....”

“Spirit?”

_“Heh, I’ll humor you this once.”_ A shadow shifted in the corner of Ryou’s eye, when he turned his head a transparent copy of himself appeared before him, a devious grin on his face as he sat cross legged inside the circle directly across from him. "Alright, Ryou Bakura, let’s chat.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys! OTL
> 
> I needed to (and still need to, if I'm honest) take some time to work on some of my final papers for the semester (30+ pages, yayyyy) but you know what? Self-care is a thing and I've been sitting on Chapter 2 long enough. I hope you all like it!

The Spirit of the Ring regarded Ryou coolly, his expression somehow intrigued yet mocking all at once.  A stretch of silence engulfed the two as Ryou stared in awe and wondered whether or not Yugi could see the spirit residing in the Millennium Puzzle the same way he could see the one before him now. 

“Well?” The Spirit asked, impatient. “What did you want to talk about? I’m listening.”

“Oh, right.” Ryou said, forced out of his apparent trance. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting… Well, wasn’t expecting to see you, honestly.”

“I reside in a ring surrounded by dark magic and you just spent hours, I’m assuming, preparing magical boundaries and spells to keep me confined. Are you really so surprised that I can manifest this way?” He sounded almost insulted. 

Ryou chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, fingers twirling in his hair nervously. “Fair point. I’m still getting used to the idea of magic being real though. I mean, I read a lot about the occult but that was mostly for stuff like Monster World and—” He cut himself off when he realized the Spirit was staring at him, still waiting for him to begin their actual chat. “Ah, right, you don’t care. Ok. Well,” Ryou took a deep breath and leaned down and sit in front of the Spirit. “Let’s start with the basics. You know my name; what’s yours?”

“Don’t have one.”

“Really?” Somehow, Ryou wasn’t really surprised by that though he didn’t know why.

The Spirit seemed somewhat annoyed. “Yes, really.”

“Oh. Well, what would you like to be called then?”

He stared at Ryou a moment before he guffawed, startling the other. “ “What would I like to be called?” What kind of question is that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“Oh? Spirit of the Millennium Ring not doing it for you? Is it too long?”

“Would you prefer to be called that?” Ryou asked, sincerely curious. “I mean, it is a bit long, but it feels weird talking to you and just thinking of you as that – especially since you were in my head.”

“I am a thief and a stealer of souls, Ryou Bakura. And I have done terrible, _terrible_ things in my quest to possess the Millennium Items.” The Spirit grinned maniacally and swept his tongue over his lips, eyes wild as he continued, challenging him. “What would you call someone like that?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted, a bit irritated by the Spirit’s showy display. “There’s no need to be so edgy.” Ryou stated, delighting at the slight way which the Spirit bristled at that. “I mean, I could call you “Spirit” or “Thief” if you prefer, but I’m just saying it seems like at this point we should at the very least be on something more like a first name basis? After all, you’ve been in my head _and_ stabbed through hand." He reminded him, holding up the offending, still bandaged limb in question "The least you could do is let me know what you’d like to be called.”

The Spirit shrugged. “I don’t care what you call me. All I care about is being allowed control over you.”

“Well, I don’t care to negotiate with a mysterious thief spirit who won’t tell me his name.”

The Spirit groaned, obviously annoyed by Ryou’s insistence. “I already told you. I don’t have one. If I did, I don’t remember it." Ryou raised a brow at that, but the scowl he received in return told him he need not bother asking about it. "So if it bothers you that much then come up with something on your own. If it makes you more willing to let me take control, I don’t care. Call me whatever.”

“I never said I'd let you take over.” Ryou reminded him. “But if you’re so insistent on negotiating control, I would feel better calling you _something_ …”

“Then just pick something so we can move on then!” The Spirit growled.

“You really don’t have any preference?”

“ _Ryou—_ ”

“Bakura.”

The Spirit froze, confused. “What—”

“Bakura. That’s what I’ll call you.”

“... That’s your name.” He looked at Ryou like the boy had just grown an extra head.

Ryou nodded. “Yes, but I don’t mind sharing it. And if you _do_ wind up convincing me to let you waltz around in my body from time to time, it will certainly make things easier don’t you think? If we both respond to the same name that is.”

There was a long stretch of silence between the two during which the Spirit openly stared at Ryou in disbelief, then let out the insane and riotous laughter that Ryou was quickly becoming more and more familiar with. “HA! You really are a strange one, did you know that Ryou Bakura?”

“I’ve been told it a couple of times now.” Ryou admitted, then let out a small huff as he frowned. “Would you stop saying my full name though? You were the one saying your title was too long before, can’t you shorten mine?”

“Are we both to be “Bakura” then?” The newly named spirit, Bakura, inquired, amused.

“Yes, but not to each other. You can call me Ryou.”

“Oooh, I can? How generous of you!”

Ryou rolled his eyes. “Alright, well now that that’s cleared up, why are you so insistent on possessing my body? Do you have some kind of goal? Other than sealing innocent souls into Monster World figurines that is.”

“ “Innocent”? Not the word I would chose to describe all of them.” Bakura said, frowning. “And besides, who says I’m planning anything? Wouldn’t you like to stretch your legs after being trapped in gold for three thousand years?”

“Is that how long you’ve been in there?” Ryou asked, horrified. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but if the spirit before him had been stranded that long (alone, if his assumptions were correct) then he was surprised he was capable of sitting in front of him and speaking rationally with him right now.

“Impressed?” Bakura smirked. “It was nothing.”

“But… Why?”

“ _"Whosoever wields all seven Millennium Items will possess power unimaginable.”_ ” Bakura said, obviously echoing another’s words. “You friend, Yugi – I think? Well, that Puzzle around his neck happens to be one of those seven items. And, I want it.”

“But why?”

“It doesn’t matter why. I want it and I’m getting it one way or another. So we can do this the easy way—” Ryou was forced to shield his eyes as Bakura became engulfed in what appeared to be blue flames. “Or the hard way. Either way it doesn’t matter to me.”

Ryou glared at him. “Whatever that is, stop it. It isn’t scaring me.” He frowned. “You say that you’ve done terrible things to possess the items, but I think there’s more to it than that…”

“What?”

“I mean, yeah it’s obvious you’ve done awful things – I’ve got firsthand experience, after all – but I don’t think that you’re a bad person?” The Spirit must have been confused by Ryou’s admission, or at least thrown off by it, because the flames faded out as he continued to speak. “I mean, yeah you’ve done bad things, really really terrible things honestly, but I… I don’t know. I want to trust you, for some reason.” Ryou was surprised at how much he meant that. He hadn’t intended to voice it aloud but it came rushing out of his mouth before he could think better of it and when the spirit’s eyes widened ever so slightly before Bakura could school his features again, he knew that it was true.

He had no reason to trust him, let alone put his faith in him after all that he’d done, and yet… He just _did._

He trusted him.

Ryou frowned before continuing. “That being said, I won’t let you control me if it means you’re going to hurt my friends. I’ll step out of this circle and leave you here if you’re going to.” He said firmly.

Bakura grunted, annoyed. “... Fine.”

“Huh?”

“ _Fine._ " Bakura rolled his eyes. "If it means you’ll let me out, I promise not to hurt your friends.” He spat the last word out like it was poison as his expression became a bit lighter, his eyes still harsh but now an almost mischievous gleam shined in them as well. “You can relax! It’ll be like I’m a new person when I take over... No more soul snatching, I promise.” He stated, placing his fist over his heart as he did so. Before Ryou could say anything, he cut him off. “With one exception.” His more playful expression shifted into something darker, harsh and hateful. “That spirit in the Millennium Puzzle, I can’t say the same for him.”

That should be a deal breaker, Ryou thought. He shouldn't even consider accepting it. It was that spirit that helped free him and his friends after all. Yet… “Care to explain why?”

Bakura scoffed, eyes narrowing as he continued, distaste for the other spirit evident in his tone. “Let’s just call it bad blood and leave it at that. You don’t need to know more. _Trust me_.” Ryou felt a shiver run down his spine at that but couldn’t help but feel inclined to do just that. “I promise that _if_ you let me out and allow me to control your body when I need to, though, that I will do my best to help save your friends in the times to come.”

“Save them? From what?” He asked, bile rising in his throat at the implication of impending danger. 

“What you experienced with me was only the beginning. There are five other items out there, unaccounted for, and I guarantee you that if both the Ring and the Puzzle are here in Domino, it’s only a matter of time before other items and their owners make their way here.” Bakura said. “The items themselves are steeped in powerful, dark magic. I doubt that what I put you all through in Monster World will be the end of it. You’re sure to be subjected to more trials, more Shadow Games. And since you and your friends are frequently coming into contact with not just one, but two of the items your chances of escaping are slim – you’ll be forced to play, sooner or later, whether you want to or not.” He stated absolutely, leaving no room for argument. Ryou didn’t doubt him. It made sense that such powerful items would be drawn to one another.

“…” He shifted his gaze to the ground, considerate, as the two lapsed into silence. The spirit didn’t force the conversation further, or make any new threats, just stared at Ryou as the teen lost himself in thought.

If what Bakura said were true, it could only benefit him and his friends to have the spirit’s assistance. It was obvious that he knew a great deal about the items, even if he seemed reluctant to share certain bits and pieces of information with him right now… It was obvious to Ryou that Bakura was hiding something, holding back and reluctant to reveal certain secrets such as what laid behind the apparent grudge he had against the Puzzle Spirit.

But if he were right, and there really were more trials yet to be faced by him and his friends…

“…” Ryou flicked his eyes back up, staring at the spirit resolutely, unwavering. “If I let you take control, you promise to do your best to protect me and my friends...?”

“I swear it.” He said, and Ryou believed him.

“…” Ryou sighed, mind made up. “Okay... Okay.” He finally conceded and smiled a bit despite himself as he watched Bakura’s eyes light up in response. “But if we’re doing this, we have to have some ground rules.”

“Such as?”

“If I decide I need to take control back from you, you need to let me.” Bakura scowled, mouth flying open in an obvious attempt to argue, and Ryou raised his voice to cut him off. “In exchange, I promise to let you out at least an hour every day.” There was no reason to think that the spirit would actually adhere to the rule, but somehow Ryou felt he would respect it (or try to) now that it was at least voiced.

“An hour?”

“Yes. At least one hour, uninterrupted, each day. Maybe longer on breaks from school if you keep your promise not to hurt my friends.”

“And the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle?” Bakura asked.

“He helped me and the others before but...” Ryou stared at Bakura, determined. “If you swear not to hurt Yugi. If you promise not to hurt him in the process then… Well, you’re both Millennium Spirits. I’ll leave it to the two of you to work things out, just don’t hurt Yugi in the process.”

“Hmm….”

“So, Bakura.” Despite the other being ethereal, Ryou presented his bandaged hand to him. “Do we have a deal?”

The spirit grinned, obviously amused by the gesture, and looked him dead in the eyes as he extended his own palm. Though he couldn’t feel it, he saw Bakura’s fingers tighten in what would have been a firm grip as he locked their hands together as best he could. Ryou noticed and mirrored it with his own, almost able to feel the sensation as he “tightened” his hold as well, eyes widening as he saw the spirit smile, not smirk, at him for the first time since they met as he regarded his host.

“Yes. We have a deal, _Ryou_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so very much to anyone and everyone who takes the time to click on this story and read it! I appreciate each and every one of you all! (Special shout out to those of you who have subscribed!) 
> 
> I hope you all have wonderful weeks and that those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful turkey day! (*^o^*)/


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the plot begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that this took so long to get out! I'm in my senior year of college right now (graduating in May, scary but exciting too!), so updates will be slow but my goal right now is to update this at least once a month from here on out. Maybe more if I can get far enough ahead of myself. Thank you so much for having patience with me!

“Good morning, everybody!” Ryou beamed as he walked into class, making a beeline for Yugi, Anzu, Jonouchi, and Honda as he did so. He could feel the Spirit rolling his eyes at him, practically see it in his mind’s eye (it was still a strange sensation) in response to his overt cheeriness. There was a pause when he entered the room, unusual since his new friends were usually quick to greet him in the mornings, before anyone responded.

“Oh, hey.”

“Good morning, Bakura…” 

Another pause followed Honda and Anzu acknowledging his greeting; the air around them felt heavy, almost gloomy. For brief moment, Ryou felt his blood run cold.  What if they could see Bakura behind him? He hadn’t intended on informing them of his and the Spirit’s arrangement any time soon but if they could see him then he wouldn’t be left with much of a choice—

 _“It’s not me. Only you can see me.”_ Bakura stated, likely sensing his host’s thoughts (yet another new thing for Ryou to get used to). It took every ounce of self-control in Ryou’s body not to instantly turn to face him, having seen his apparition manifest out of the corner of his eye.  

_‘Are you sure?’_

_“Positive. You can only see me because of the Ring.”_ Ryou hummed in response as he catalogued that little tidbit of information, unnoticed by the others as they continued to stare down at Yugi, who in turn seemed incredibly invested in whatever was in his hands. 

Ryou let the silence stretch on for another few seconds or so before clearing his throat and stepping closer to the others. “Hey, what’s wrong? What’s the matter, you guys?” Yugi continued to stare down at the object on his desk, which appeared to be a camcorder. Though subtle, there appeared to be something moving in the feedback zone. “What are you watching, Yugi?”

 _“Oh ho ho!!”_ Ryou jumped a bit at the unexpected voice, which definitely did _not_ belong to the Spirit. _“You’re Bakura, aren’t you? Good morning!”_

_‘He… He spoke to me...?!'_

_“Yeah, no shit.”_ Bakura muttered under his breath.

Ignoring the Spirit’s side comment, Ryou gulped as he leaned forward and closer to the camera. “So, um. Is this a video phone or something?”

“Nope.” Yugi stated. “My grandpa is stuck in this video!”

_‘What the hell—?!'_

_“Huh. Well, I’ll give the brat this: He’s taking this pretty well…”_

Ryou couldn’t help but think that that was the understatement of the century. If it weren’t for the fact that it was Yugi telling him this, he would have almost certainly assumed that this was some sort of over the top, elaborate prank being pulled on him. But it was Yugi, and Yugi hadn’t lied to Ryou once since they’d met and was to his knowledge as sincere as a person could be, so he knew that it was true.

“Yeah, it’s hard to believe but Yugi lost a game of _Duel Monsters_ to this weird guy’s video recording! The guy had a Millennium Item,” Ryou felt Bakura bristle at that, suddenly considerably more invested in the conversation. “and he used his power to put Yugi’s grandpa’s soul on this video tape!” Jonouchi explained.

_‘A Millennium Item...!’_

_“Quite the development, hmm? I told you. Other Millennium Items were bound to show up eventually.”_

“I don’t what I should do.” Yugi admitted, taking the camcorder into his hands. Though he didn’t look defeated per say, he definitely wasn’t his normal, chipper self today, not that Ryou could blame him. “I mean, what should I do?” He chewed his lip worriedly as he continued. “What if Grandpa can’t return to normal...?”

 _“Here here!”_ The slightly digitalized voice interjected from the camera. _“I’m doing just fine in here! There’s no need to get so down in the dumps!”_

“Yeah! Gramps is right!” Jonouchi agreed. “I mean, hey, getting all depressed about it isn’t gonna solve anything! Is it, Yugi?”

“Yeah, you’re right!” Yugi seemed to shake off his own doubt at their encouragement, but Ryou couldn’t help but notice that some of the anxiousness returned to his eyes a moment later. “Well, I guess I’m okay, all things considered... But the other me isn’t.”

“Wait, what?! You learned how to talk to your alter ego? Since when?!” Anzu asked and Ryou did his best to focus on her words rather than on the sheer amount of… Whatever it was coming from Bakura’s energy in the shared portion of their mind. It was incredibly emotionally charged, specifically by something akin to anger or hatred, but Ryou didn't ask him about it. After their exchange the other night, Ryou knew better than to expect Bakura to divulge or explain his feelings to him.

Still, it was so strong that it almost made Ryou feel sick – it filled him with a tingly, almost anxious feeling akin to adrenaline or anxiety, but not quite, so focusing on the conversation at hand was preferable to lingering on it for too long. He took a few deep breaths as Yugi explained that though they couldn’t speak to each other, he could feel what his other self felt if he closed his eyes and focused hard enough. 

There was a brief moment where Ryou considered mentioning to the others that he and the Ring Spirit had spoken. He might have chimed in and tried to figure out why he could talk to Bakura while Yugi couldn’t quite connect with his other self and attempted to exchange information. But even if he’d been convinced that the others would react positively to Bakura (which he doubted, Monster World being taken into consideration), the moment the thought crossed his mind he felt the tense energy being exuded from Bakura flare up again and bit his lip, resigning himself to not discuss it for the time being.

Ryou eventually managed to feel only the slightest lull of unease in his mind, though whether that was from his own efforts or Bakura’s he was uncertain. Either way, it was more than welcome and he was grateful for it. At the mention of Duelist Kingdom, he chimed in again.

“You said that Pegasus has a Millennium Item, didn’t you?”

“Not only that, he dug out his own eye to put it in!”

_“In case that didn’t make it obvious, we’re probably dealing with the Millennium Eye in this instance.”_

“Well, maybe if you go to this Kingdom you’ll be able to find out the secret behind the Millennium Items… Like my Millennium Ring...” He trailed off, clutching the Item and pulling it out from underneath his shirt.

 ** _“ACK!”_** Ryou blinked, brought out of his daze by the others’ horrified gasps.

Jonouchi looked completely put out. “You _still_ have that _thing_?!” 

“It’s okay! I mean, you defeated the Spirit inside of it so it’s practically harmless now.” Ryou said, ignoring the smug snickering in the back of his mind as he attempted to placate them. “It’s just a piece of jewelry! I mean, there _is_ another personality inside it, just like Yugi’s Puzzle, but my father bought it for me from an antique store in Egypt and despite everything it’s important to me.” He explained. He could see that the others didn’t quite understand the feeling, though Yugi did seem a bit more receptive, but it was true. His father didn’t come around him very often these days, and a cursed object was better than having nothing to remember him by...

In the back of his mind, he felt a tinge of sympathy come from the Ring Spirit. It disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, but he appreciated it all the same.

Ryou shook his head to break that train of thought and continued. “The thing I want most of all right now is to find out all the secret behind these Items! Like, who made them? How do they work? What are they for? I bet Pegasus knows the answer.”

Yugi stood suddenly, chair scuffing the floor as he set down the camera and stepped away from the others.

“What’s wrong, Yugi?”

“I’m sorry guys. I’d just… I’d like to be alone for a little while.” He pocketed the camcorder then blinked as if realizing something. “Ah, I mean, not me but the other me.”

“Yikes… What a mess!” Jonouchi muttered under his breath as Yugi left the room, presumably to find some place quiet to think.

With Yugi gone, though, the attention from earlier shifted to Ryou again. He smiled nervously as he saw Anzu frown at him, obviously concerned.

“Bakura, are you sure that you should be wearing that after everything that happened?”

“I understand your concern,” It wasn’t a lie. He really did. “but I’ve been wearing it for the past few days and nothing has happened.”

“So far.” Honda pointed out. “Nothing’s happened so far.”

 _“I could make something happen_ right now _if it would please them.”_ Bakura grumbled.

_‘Please don’t!’_

“Yes, nothing so far.” Ryou agreed. “Look, I understand why you all are worried. I really do. But it’s alright. Besides, with everything happening now, I really _really_ don’t like the idea of the Ring just sitting somewhere in my house unattended.”

Jonouchi sighed, cutting off Anzu’s apparent argument before it could begin. “I get you. Pegasus or some other creep like him getting their hands on the Ring would probably only make things worse.”

_“Please. As if I’d allow him to so much as touch it.”_

Ryou had to fight the urge to laugh at that, certain that Bakura would make whoever attempted to take the Ring’s life a living hell somehow. He just felt like it wouldn’t go as smoothly as Jonouchi was making it sound it would.

“Still!” Anzu interjected. “Bakura, do you really _have_ to wear it? I mean, couldn’t you just carry it around with you?”

“Yeah man, you could still keep an eye on it if you carried it in your bag right?”

“I’ll tell you what Honda, at the first sign of trouble you have my full permission to throw it as far away as you can…”

 _“HA!”_ Bakura barked out a laugh. _“I’d like to see him try!”_

“… but for now I’m keeping it with me.” Ryou stated resolutely and started gathering his belongings.

“Hey, where’re you going, Bakura?” Jonouchi asked as Ryou headed for the door Yugi had walked out just moments before.

“I don’t know about you three, but I don’t intend to let Yugi go to Duelist Kingdom all on his own. I’m going to go home and pack a few things; please let Tanaka-sensei know that I went home early.”

At that, Jonouchi beamed and Ryou knew what would happened next almost immediately. “Hey, Anzu, tell Tanaka that Bakura and I got sick and couldn’t come back after lunch, ok?”

“Are you kidding me? Why do I have to tell him?”

“Hey, you could always be sick too! What about you Honda, are you in?”

Ryou smiled as the three started to argue this way and that about the best way to leave the school without arousing suspicion and slid open the classroom’s door. “When should we all meet up?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why "Tanaka"? Because Domino's high school homeroom teacher apparently isn't named (or, at least I couldn't find any mention of a name for him) and the generic teacher in my Japanese textbooks in high school was called "Tanaka" so it's something I'll remember consistently moving forward! :)
> 
> The speed and plot of this story should pick up from here on (hopefully!) if my planning and pacing is correct! Ryou and Bakura will also have more back and forth discussions in their their soul rooms in later chapters but for now, we have Bakura narrating and commenting about Ryou's life (much to his annoyance at certain points and amusement at others)! I hope that you enjoyed this update! Thank you to everyone who has left kudos or subscribed or commented on this so far! I hope to see you again next month with a new update! :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay on this chapter coming out! For some reason it did not want to be written until recently. ^^;

_“What are we doing here?”_

Ryou frowned and turned his head to glance at Bakura, who lingered at his side as he made his way to the Mutou’s Kame Game Store. “What do you mean?”

_“This is pointless.”_

“Jonouchi called because he got a video tape too, but he’s waiting to play it until we all get there.” Ryou needlessly explained, knowing that Bakura knew already because he’d been there when the boy called and asked him to accompany them on a trip to Yugi’s home.

_“Still pointless. If it’s another Shadow Game then your friend is screwed.”_

“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine.”

_“Just saying.”_ Bakura shrugged, but didn’t look as irritated as he had earlier in the day while Yugi had spoken about his other self in the Millennium Puzzle. Considering that, as far as Ryou knew, the Ring Spirit tended to fluctuate between bored and pissed, he counted the indifference as a win. 

“Hey! Bakura! We’re over here!” Ryou could hear Anzu calling him and turned to see Honda and Jonouchi standing with her at the corner of the street by the game store. Bakura retreated into the Millennium Ring as he started to jog over, but he could still feel his presence enough to know that he was paying attention to what was happening around Ryou.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *               *

Ryou stayed quiet for the most part while Jonouchi told them all about his sister’s impending blindness.

Although he was certainly sympathetic and wanted to help his friend feel better, he’d never really known what to say in delicate situations so he opted to let Yugi and the others handle it. It proved to be the best choice in the end as Yugi (the other Yugi - Ryou noted, noticing the slightly sharper features that appeared on his friend’s face and feeling the irritation of the Ring Spirit bubble to the surface before settling into a dull ache in the back of his mind) wound up giving hope to their friend in the form of _The Honor of the King’s Right_ and a Star Chip.

And so, with the evening’s drama out of the way, planning for Duelist Kingdom commenced.

“I just realized, do you think we’ll be ok getting on the ship?” Honda asked.

Yugi blinked. “What do you mean?”

“Well, since we don’t have star chips will we be allowed onboard?”

“Oh geez, I hadn’t even though of that!” Jonouchi groaned.

“It’s ok! I guess we’ll just have to make our way on to the ship and do our best to avoid attracting attention… I hope security isn’t too tight!” Anzu laughed awkwardly.

“We’ll be fine!” Ryou assured them.

_“If you walk with purpose, no one will even question it.”_ Bakura chimed in, from the back of Ryou’s mind.

_‘Really? You think that will work?’_

_“Confidence can get you anywhere, usually. Just do your best not to reek of guilt and they probably won’t care. I doubt they get paid enough to; lackeys rarely do.’_

Ryou almost laughed at that, smiling as he presented the idea to the others. “I bet if we just act like we belong there no one will even question it. We can even bring our decks with us and play on the boat while we wait, that should help us blend in.”

“Hey, good idea Bakura!” Yugi smiled widely at his friend.

_“Here here!”_ Yugi’s grandfather chimed in, voice spilling out of the camcorder where Yugi had placed it in the center of the table. After they watched Jonouchi’s tape, they’d all migrated to the kitchen table in the living area on the second floor of the game store.

“Do you really think that will work?” Anzu sounded a bit unsure.

“In my experience, confidence can get you anywhere, usually!” Ryou assured her as Bakura barked a laugh.

_‘In your experience, hmm?’_

_“I agree with Bakura, confidence will take you far!”_ Grandpa Mutou said. _“In fact, in light of the circumstances, why don’t you all pick up some booster packs from the store before heading out?”_

“Huh? You mean that, Gramps?!”

_“Of course! Looking the part is one thing, but it you won’t last very long if you don’t have some decent cards to back it up, right?”_

And so, after another hour or so of talking with the others and finalizing where and when they would meet up, Ryou wound up heading home with an impressive amount of new cards to sort through.

“Anything good?” Bakura peered over Ryou’s shoulder as he spread out the new potential additions to his deck on his kitchen counter.

“I’d say so!” Ryou smiled as he went to go retrieve his current deck from the desk in his room, returning to Bakura leaning over the new cards, fingers stroking one as he considered it. “Oh? Which one is that, do you like it?”

Caught, Bakura withdrew his hand and frowned as his cheeks lit up a dusty pink which disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. “I guess it’s alright. It’s not very strong though.”

Ryou hummed as he reached over to pick up the card for himself and beamed as he read the name. “ ‘The Headless Knight’... You’re right, he’s not super strong but I like him too.”

“I’m not surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“You like stuff like that, don’t you? You always incorporate ghosts and monsters into your campaigns and you always pick horror movies when you get to choose.”

Ryou blinked, confused. “I mean, yeah but…”

“Hmm?”

“How-”

“How do I know that?” Bakura tapped (or, would have if he’d had a physical body to tap with) the center of the Millennium Ring that dangled from Ryou’s neck. “I’ve been with you ever since you first put the Ring around your neck. I probably know more about you than your father at this point.”

Ryou frowned. “That’s… Not saying much, admittedly.”

“My apologies, I’d forgotten that was a touchy subject.” He apologized, managing to sound unrepentant the entire time.

Ryou decided to shelve the matter for the time being, opening his deck box up to count out his cards and divide them and his new ones into piles of monsters, spells, and traps respectively. “Well, would you like to help me put a deck together then?”

“What?”

“I mean, since you _know_ me so _well_ and all, I bet with your help I can finetune this pretty quickly. Not to mention it’s probably pretty likely that if I put this together you’re going to probably wind up using them at some point, you know? Since we share the same body and all.”

He was quiet for a long moment, and for a minute Ryou thought he’d retreated back into the Ring for the night, before letting out a huff of air and marching over to the counter where Ryou had finished dividing up the cards. He tapped one to the left of them.

“Necrofear stays. Even with your newer cards, she’s still the biggest powerhouse in your deck—”

They spent the rest of the night assembling, disassembling, and reassembling their deck. Though he did his best to act uninterested and grumpy as the night went on it seemed like Bakura started enjoying it despite himself and Ryou couldn’t help but smile.

“—There.” Bakura eventually stated, firmly. “That should do it for now. We can always—” The smirk on his face fell as he turned to face Ryou. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Ryou laughed as the Spirit continued to grumble at him.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *               *

The remaining week leading up to the ship’s departure to Duelist Kingdom passed relatively quickly.

When the day actually came for them to embark, they wound up boarding the vessel bound for Duelist Kingdom with relative ease, much to their relief. Bakura was right, most of the security guards on the ship seemed content to let anyone with a deck onboard without much of a fuss.

That wasn’t to say it was entirely uneventful, though.

“That damn HagaA _AAACHOO!”_ Jonouchi sniffled as he continued to dry off as best as he could with the towel his friends had brought him after fishing him out of the sea.

_“You know, it’s not too late. You could find Haga and push him off the ship.”_

_‘I thought you didn’t like my friends?’_

_“I don’t. But Haga reminded me of a weasel. Plus, I doubt anyone would care if he were to fall off the face of the earth.”_

“I’m sorry. Yugi, I was only able to get back two of your cards.”

“Don’t worry about that Jonouchi! I’m just glad that you’re ok!”

“What were you thinking?! Jumping off the ship like that?!” Anzu chided him.

“Once I was there, I was thinking I should’ve pulled Haga down with me, honestly.”

_‘See? Even he agrees.’_

“We’ll get our chance to get even with him once we’re on the island.” Yugi assured him.

“We’d better. I’m making it my personal mission to get that creep off the island as soon as possible!”

“ACHOO! ACHOOOO! ACHOO!!”

“Well, there’s not much we can do for it right now.” Ryou said, grimacing as Jonouchi did his best to halt his sneezing fit, shivering all the while. “I suppose we should go back inside and get some rest before we dock.”

“Inside sounds good right about now.” Jonouchi admitted. “I hope that they boilers’re fired up because I’m freezing.”

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *               *

_“Attention Duelists, please disembark from the ship in an orderly fashion!”_

“I guess that’s our cue.” Yugi said.

“I think I’m gonna be sick…” Honda said, gripping his stomach.

Anzu frowned. “Get a hold of yourself.”

“But what if they realize we’re not supposed to be here _now_? I mean, what happens then? Do we get locked up on the ship? Do we get thrown off the island?!”

“I think that you’re confusing Duelist Kingdom with one of those American survival shows.” She laughed. “Just play it cool, we’ve been fine so far.”

“Yeah buddy, just stay calm.”

“Easy for you to say, you two have star chips...”

“Well, we can’t exactly swim back now can we?” Ryou said. “We’ve made it this far, I think we’ll be alright.”

Anzu sighed. “If you can just try to act normal, we’ll be ok.”

“Ok, ok…”

_“Since when did “acting normal” consist of marching like one of those windup toy soldiers you used to play with as a child?”_ Bakura scoffed as they disembarked, frowning at Honda’s awkward gait off the ship.

_‘I can’t blame him for being so nervous.’_ Ryou admitted, drawing Bakura’s attention towards him as Honda frantically sped away from one of the guards who attempted to comfort him, assuring him that they were guests on the island and should relax. _‘We’re walking into unknown territory after all and Pegasus has the Millennium Eye. Yugi and Jonouchi at least have star chips to certify them, but Yugi and I are the only ones with Millennium Items to protect us. When you get down to it, Anzu and Honda are definitely the most vulnerable of the five of us…’_

_“ “Protect us?” Rather presumptuous of you.”_

_‘Well, I didn’t mean the items themselves so much as the spirits within them.’_ Ryou admitted, honestly, thankful the others were more concerned with talking with each other than paying much attention to his silence so he could talk with Bakura as they began their ascent towards the Island’s castle. _‘I mean,’_ He chanced a glance in Bakura’s direction. _‘Honestly, I feel a lot better about being here knowing that you’re here with me.’_ He smiled as Bakura’s eyes widened ever so slightly. _‘We had a rough start, but I trust you to help keep me safe, if for no other reason than the fact that you need me in order to use my body.’_

_“......... Huh.”_

_‘Am I wrong?’_

Bakura laughed, throwing his head back and guffawing, before shifting his gaze back to Ryou, face set in a smirk which Ryou was slowly realizing was less sinister in its nature and more just how Bakura tended to carry himself. _“About a lot of things, but not about this.”_ He conceded, the hint of a chuckle still present in his voice. He blinked, then pointed up at the sky, drawing his host’s attention towards the fireworks which were popping overhead. _“It’s starting.”_ He said simply, exchanging a glance with the boy.

They nodded at each other, an unspoken understanding seemingly reached.

As Ryou and his friends watched the fireworks blast Bakura vanished in a flash of light which withdrew into the Millennium Ring. Once he sensed the spirit had settled inside, Ryou smiled, gripping the center of the Ring close to his chest as he stared resolutely as the last of the fireworks burned out in the sky.

_‘Let’s do our best.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to everyone who has read, subscribed, commented, and/or left kudos! You guys are the real MVPs and make writing this even more fun! :)
> 
> I'm hoping to get a few chapters ahead, soon, so that I can try and release two chapters a month, but until then anticipate at least one being released next month!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I debated a little bit, but I don't think that rehashing every single duel in Duelist Kingdom is necessary since Bakura and Ryou don't really duel at all during it. I'm definitely going to revisit some duels and put my own spin on them in Battle City, when we get there (which I cannot wait for because that arc is the entire reason I was excited to write this story, tbh! I have big plans!!), but for now (with a few exceptions) most duels are going to be briefly touched on since (I assume) that most of you can remember the most plot relevant parts of them. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this update! :D

_“Do you all really have time to be doing this right now?”_ Bakura’s voice chimed in, startling Ryou as he’d been silent for most of the day since the competition started. He turned to see Bakura standing over his shoulder, frowning.

_‘What do you mean?’_

_“So some kid is getting kicked off for losing his star chips. It’s his own fault for letting them get taken; your friends are wasting time looking for the thief.”_

_‘We have 48 hours to gain entry into the castle. Yugi has five star chips already and Jonouchi has three and it’s only been six hours since the tournament started. We can afford to take some time to help.’_

_“What will you even do if you find the thief, hmm? Friendship him to death? Give him a long, firm scolding and hope that he’ll “do the right thing”?”_

Ryou blinked, confused, and stopped following the others to get a better look at the Spirit, who seemed more disgruntled than usual somehow. _‘I know that you don’t care for them much, but what’s going on? Is something else bothering you?’_

Bakura groaned and walked closer to Ryou, ushering him forward as he spoke. _“I just didn’t expect this to be so...”_

_‘So…?’_

_“Boring.”_

Ryou had to resist the urge to laugh as he realized Bakura’s irritated state was one born of boredom, not hatred. _‘Oh? I thought that you’d like watching people duel considering how into Monster World you got!’_

 _“That was different; I was playing.”_ Bakura said, stating it like it should have been the most obvious difference in the world. _“Is this fun for you? Sitting around watching people duel through the glass while they sit at little boxes with tiny holograms?”_

 _‘I’ll admit it. It_ would _be more fun if we could play,’_ Ryou conceded as Jonouchi complained about how hard it was to find their thief. _‘but we aren’t here for fun, you know?’_

 _“I thought at least Haga playing Yugi would be an interesting match to watch, but it ended so quickly it was just…”_ Bakura trailed off, grumbling.

Ryou smiled weakly. It made sense that Bakura was bored, he was too in a way. Sure he loved supporting his friends and he knew that they were here for important reasons (rescuing Yugi’s grandpa, saving Jonouchi’s sister’s eyesight), but it was a bit dull to be constantly stuck on the sidelines and he understood the Spirit’s frustration. Before he could respond, though, he was cut off by Yugi.

 “Look over there!”

Ryou and Bakura turned, eyes drawn to a small boat headed towards the horizon manned by disqualified duelists. 

Jonouchi’s eyes widened and his face reddened. “HEEYY! That kid who got his star chips stolen is on the boat too! Fuck! That guy in the suit broke his promise!”

_“To be fair, he never promised him anything…”_

Ryou frowned as he watched the boat vanish into the horizon line with the others.

“Man that sucks...” Jonouchi grumbled.

A rustling in the bushes drew their entire group’s attention, and a young boy with a red bandana matching the thief’s description wasted no time at all in calling out Yugi and challenging him to a duel.

 _“That’s him?”_ Bakura said, a certain amount of disbelief evident in his voice. _“That’s the thief? How did he steal anything? I bet we could take that stupid bandana off his face if we sat on him; there’s nothing to him!”_ He sounded offended that the boy managed to steal anything from anyone, and this time Ryou did laugh, though it was quiet and under his breath.

_‘You sound almost offended!’_

_“It’s ridiculous! How did_ that _steal from_ anyone _?!”_ Bakura grumbled, appalled. He frowned as he considered the Other Yugi and the thief as they began their duel in a nearby duel box. _“And why the hell is he even dueling him in the first place? Between the five of you it would be nothing to take the star chips from him.”_

 _‘I mean, it looks like we’ll have them regardless within the next turn or so…’_ Ryou frowned as he heard Jonouchi voice exactly what he was thinking.

“Wow, you know I just realized…! This kid really sucks! Like, he doesn’t even stand a chance against Yugi!”

 _“Brace yourself, he’s going to run.”_ Bakura said, taking note of the child’s wide eyed, panicked expression. Ryou frowned as he watched the child lunge forward and grab Yugi’s star chips, only to immediately panic himself as he felt his body shift into a more steady, stable stance more suited for potentially reacting.

_‘What—?!’_

_“Relax.”_ Bakura assured him, though he no longer appeared beside Ryou when the teen tried to turn his head to face him. _“I’m just getting you ready -  in case he makes it out of that box and tries to run off with your friend’s star chips.”_

_‘… Oh.’_

_“That’s part of our agreement, yes?”_

_‘… Thanks.’_

_“Tch.”_

As it turned out, Bakura’s intervention wasn’t required in the end. As soon as the thief made a grab for his star chips, the Other Yugi grabbed the boy’s arms and twisted it, causing his disguise to fall off in the process.

Although Ryou himself did not know Seto Kaiba personally, he’d heard the whispers in the hall about him at school shortly after he transferred. He knew that Kaiba was their classmate, and that somehow, mysteriously, he’d wound up in a coma after facing Yugi’s other self in a public duel at his theme park, Death-T, but he hadn’t made much of an effort to learn more about him other than what he’d overheard.

 _“It reeks of Shadow Magic.”_ Bakura stated suddenly, voice echoing in the back of Ryou’s mind. He hadn’t manifested since bracing their body for the thief, now known as Mokuba Kaiba, had attempted his great escape, but Ryou could feel his body and senses were heightened and more reactive now and assumed that was the Spirit’s doing. _“Comatose? A piece of his mind is more than likely in the Shadow Realm right now.”_

_‘The what realm?’_

_“Shadow Realm. I can explain, but it looks like you have other things to worry about right now.”_

Ryou felt like someone or something else was approaching, his body felt uneasy, and he turned to see the same man who’d been roughly escorting Mokuba’s victim off the island less than an hour before approaching them.

*             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *             *               *

_“And here you thought I was twisty, putting people’s souls in dolls... It looks like I’ve started a trend!”_

_‘Please don’t try and use this situation to try and downplay how disturbing it was that you ripped my friends’ souls from their bodies and used them to play a lethal version of Monster World.’_

_“I’m just saying.”_ Even though he couldn’t see him, Ryou could feel Bakura shift into a more serious mood and felt himself stiffen in response. _“In all seriousness, though, there isn’t much difference between this and what I did to your friends…”_

Ryou felt a cold jolt of adrenaline shoot through him as he processed that thought, leaving him chilled even as Bakura kept his body braced and ready to react to whatever may come. _‘Wait, are you saying that Kaiba’s soul is really in there?’_

_“Part of it is, definitely. If you really focus, you can kind of see that there’s something else in the body of the puppet.”_

Ryou squinted, really focusing on the puppet’s body. Though he didn’t see anything obvious like an apparition in the sense which he usually saw Bakura appear, something did seem off in the puppet’s eyes and the air around it was… Strange. Not like he could see anything in particular, but he could kind of see something hazy tugging at the hand of the ventriloquist who was manipulating the puppet.

_‘You mean that weird kind of haze?’_

_“Ah you can see it. Good, not everyone can. It’s convenient for me that we can both see it.”_

_‘So you can see it too?’_

_“Probably more clearly than you can, considering you described it as a haze.”_ Bakura chuckled. _“Don’t worry, you just haven’t practiced. You’ll notice it more if you hone it.”_ He stopped chuckling, trailing off into silence. Even though he couldn’t physically see him, Ryou felt like he’d be frowning if he was manifested like he usually was. _“Unlike me and your friends, however, the link isn’t very stable. It looks like one wrong move on the puppeteer’s end could result in the soul attached to the puppet breaking free.”_

 _‘You can tell all of that just by looking at him??”_ Though loathe to admit it, Ryou was pretty impressed.

_“It’s partially a hunch, but yeah. It’s not firmly in the puppet, it keeps slipping a little in and out whenever the puppeteer makes it talk.”_

Ryou wasn’t exactly sure what to do with that information, so he bit his lip and watched the duel silently, hoping against hope that if the Other Yugi won this duel that they weren’t condemning Kaiba’s (apparently reluctant) soul to some torturous form of limbo.

The Ventriloquist was a formidable foe, if not a bit cliché, he noted. He recognized the scare tactics being employed as having a similar style to the way he attempted to scare his friends in his earliest Monster World campaigns when he started DMing in junior high. The over-the-top theatrics probably wouldn’t have shaken him up so much with those sessions in mind on their own, but knowing that someone’s soul was being toyed with made him feel a bit ill – it reminded him too much of the Spirit’s twisted game of Monster World.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the tides to turn. As soon as the Ventriloquist controlling the puppet Kaiba summoned his second Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Ryou began to see the haze Bakura pointed out become especially… He wasn’t quite sure what the word was, but he supposed pointy was the closest to what he was looking for. It reminded him of an angry alleycat with an arched back and low hiss. The second Dragon, soon after, seemed to implode. As it faded off and vanished, Ryou felt the sharp energy which had been radiating from the puppet for the last couple turns suddenly dissipate, and the Kaiba puppet fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

Bakura let out a long whistle in the back of Ryou’s mind, he would have jumped had the Spirit not still been in partial control of his body. _“I told you. Poor control on the puppeteer’s part.”_

_‘Does that mean…?’_

_“Yeah, if Kaiba’s soul was in there, it isn’t now.”_

It didn’t take long for the match to end, after that. The Ventriloquist drew a third Blue-Eyes, but he was fighting a lost cause. The Other Yugi quickly turned the man’s own (stolen) card against him, defeating him with one of Kaiba’s favorite cards in what could only be referred to as poetic justice.

The Ventriloquist slumped backwards into his chair, his face fear stricken.

“I… I lost…” He mumbled, eyes widening further in disbelief. “I—I lost…”

Suddenly, Ryou felt the air in the area get tense again. It was thick, but almost felt like static too.

“You bastard… Don’t think this is over… My rage hasn’t been satisfied yet…!” He swallowed, turning his head slowly to the source of the voice and, it seemed, the heaviness in the air, the Other Yugi who was slowly rising to his feet in the battle box.

Ryou felt a slight cold sweat break out on his brow as he took in the appearance of the Other Yugi. His eyes were controlled but had a wildness to them all at once. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen.

“You stole Kaiba’s cards…” Ryou’s eyes widened as he saw what appeared to be a bright, glowing eye manifest in the middle of the Other Yugi’s forehead. The air felt even more charged, all of the sudden. “You fooled around with a worthless puppet of Kaiba’s “heart”… I will _never_ forgive you!!” His arm flew up, finger pointed forward as he jerked it towards the man.

Ryou shuddered as he heard the Spirit from the Ring utter words he somehow knew were coming, albeit in a much more sardonic tone, in sync with the Other Yugi.

“PENALTY GAME!”

As the Other Yugi turned to walk out of the box, leaving the Ventriloquist screaming and clawing about as he tried to push away from the puppet resting at his feet, Ryou couldn’t help but wonder exactly how different his Spirit was from Yugi’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual, I tried to catch typos and weird sentences before posting but it's almost midnight (probably will be when I post this, tbh) and I need to go to bed because I have a test in the morning. I'm hoping to update this more frequently in the coming months! I'm graduating May 25th, so I'm hoping that I'll have more time to write once I no longer have to do it academically (40-50 pages stand between me and the end of this semester... T0T)
> 
> (I tend to headcanon that Ryou has the ability to be a bit more intuitive and observant when it comes to spiritual stuff, by the way. I like to think of it as carryover from his past life as Thief King Bakura, who had the spirits of Kul Elna circling around him for most of his life. I feel like it's something he can hone if he really tries, and you'll probably see more hints of it throughout this, just a head's up!)
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! And thank you for all the subscribing, kudos, and bookmarking you guys have done! I get really happy each time I get an alert that someone is enjoying this!! I'm glad that you guys seem to be liking the story so far! :D


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